Building a flourishing marriage has been the most stretching challenge of our lives. It has pressed us into a relationship of dependence on God more than any other challenge we have faced. Our temperaments are so different. Our preferences are so contrary. Our styles are so incongruent. Our patterns are so diverse. Our outlooks are so varied. Our expectations are so conflicting. And while the challenge of meshing our differences has lessened over the years, it certainly hasnât disappeared.Â
But we each have so much that the other needs. We help to balance each otherâs extremes, to cover each otherâs weaknesses, and to complement each otherâs strengths. We enrich each otherâs lives with interests we would not otherwise pursue. We have forced each other to learn tolerance, and then appreciation, for a wide variety of people types; thus we have broadened each otherâs range of potential friendships, enhanced each otherâs ministry/career effectiveness, and enabled one another to effectively parent two very different children. Perhaps most importantly, we have prodded one another along the path towards Christlikeness.Â
Each time we have had to crane our necks to look through each otherâs eyes, or unclench our fists and resist the urge to fight, or prop our elbows on the table and lean forward and say, âI was wrongâ we have inched a tiny bit closer to the person we each want to become.Â
So we wake up each morning thankful for a marriage that challenges but enriches us, and reminds us every day that different isnât bad, itâs only different
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